As the old saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. With more and more of us carrying more and more capable smart phones, that camera you have with you is likely to be in a phone. So, how can you take advantage of the amazing capabilities of your phone, minimize its weaknesses and capture your creative vision? Easy! Join Charles Needle for NANPA’s next webinar, “Pixels in Your Pocket: Creative iPhoneography” at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 5. Check it out if you want to learn more about using your smart phone for photography. Space is limited, so register now!

NANPA members can register via the webinars page in the Members Area of NANPA.org. However, while webinars are normally available only to members, NANPA is opening up “Creative iPhoneography” to everyone, so feel free to share this link with all your friends who keep asking you how you got that shot with your phone www.nanpa.org/webinars.

Then, if you really want to hone that creative vision of yours, plan on attending the “VisionQuest Photography” webinar on Friday, March 29th at 6 PM Eastern Time. Let Shane McDermott show you ways you can capture “more of the magic and true essence of everything you saw and felt in the moment.” Explore creative ways to approach photographing the wonders of the natural world through the lenses of your soul, as well as of your camera. This will be the first of a two-part presentation and is open to NANPA members only. Register through the webinars page in the Members Area of NANPA.org.

Instagram and camera phone photos have inspired a lot of debate in the photography community. Why take a low quality image? You can’t print it large, you can’t sell it for stock, and it doesn’t showcase your skill with a camera. However, none of that is actually true anymore. As the popularity of iPhoneography and mobile phone photography rises alongside the capabilities of camera phones, not only are these points moot, but arguments supporting the use of mobile devices in professional photography are gaining ground. Camera phones and the social media platforms that allow us to quickly and easily share those images provide a greater freedom in story-telling, for bringing viewers along for the ride on a shoot, for engaging in conversation with viewers, and for showing more of the photographer’s personality. And now, all of this can be done without sacrificing much in quality.

In 2012 I took a trip to Midway Atoll and Instagram was a wonderful way to share the experience as it unfolded. My iPhone gave me the freedom to take snapshots on a whim, and uploading them to Instagram let me share what was happening as it happened. It was so easy, relaxing and fun to snap a photo in the moment, edit it and share it all with a single device. Those snapshots became my own diary of the trip and a way to remember the trip in a more personal way. I wouldn’t have had this diary if I’d stayed behind my DSLRs the whole time trying to get only polished, high-quality shots. And I could share what was going on with my followers on social media and generate excitement about the upcoming photo essays I was working on with the deliberate, high quality DSLR photos I was creating. Thus, my iPhone photos and Instagram held both a personal and professional purpose. It was the first time I’d really tried this approach, and it changed the way I have approached every photography trip since. Continue reading →